The present invention relates to the field of storing in and retrieving from memory telephone number or electronic address data received in an interactive television or radio system. In particular, this invention relates to simultaneously storing in and retrieving from memory telephone number or electronic address data received in an interactive television or radio system.
Conventional interactive television systems utilize a telephone number or electronic address encoded in a video signal for viewers to automatically be placed in telephone or computer communication with a program source or sponsor. For example, D. S. Isenberg, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,295 teaches a system for receiving and detecting telephone number data. encoded in video signals, storing the telephone number data and transmitting the telephone number data over a telephone network to initiate a call. G. P. Fitzpatrick, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,860 discloses a system that utilizes stored telephone number data to automatically establish communication between a data processing system and an external location.
Said prior art systems provide means for automatically dialing received telephone number data in response to television program material. Further, said prior art systems teach means for accessing telephone number data stored in memory for viewer interactive response.
Should new telephone number data be received while stored telephone number data is being accessed for automatic dialing, however, said prior art systems do not provide any means for storing said newly received telephone number data simultaneously or substantially simultaneously while said previously stored telephone number data is being accessed for automatic dialing. Likewise, no means are provided in the prior art for accessing stored telephone number data for automatic dialing simultaneously or substantially simultaneously while newly received telephone number data is being stored.
Specifically, the problem in prior art interactive television systems is that the memory used comprises single port functionality limited to providing memory access either to retrieve stored telephone number or electronic address data or to store newly received telephone number or electronic address data, not both said retrieving and said storing simultaneously or substantially simultaneously. Prior art systems have neither identified this memory limitation as a problem nor recognized the desirability of overcoming this memory limitation.
This limitation in prior art, however, severely limits the utility of interactive systems, for example, when multiple separate telephone number or electronic address data sets are encoded in program material to be received in rapid fire succession one-after-the-other. Such program material may be an advertisement advertising multiple products each having a different associated telephone number or electronic address encoded for reception at or near the time the product is mentioned. Because such utility would undoubtedly result in the simultaneous access of stored telephone number or electronic address data and storing of newly received telephone number or electronic address data, the described prior art memory limitation would preclude such utility.
Similarly, when a television channel is changed during access of previously stored telephone number or electronic address data for transmission in response to a program, new telephone number or electronic address data associated with new program material tuned-in may be received to be stored. Said prior art limitation would also preclude this utility.
A possible solution to the above-referenced problem may be programming an interactive response device to process received telephone number or electronic address data for viewer response only at a time corresponding to reception of a relevant or associated portion of the program material. Such programming, however, would add undue complexity and cost to both the device and system for encoding telephone number or electronic address data.
Another possible solution to the described problem may be equipping interactive response devices with dual port memory so as to be able to store newly received telephone number or electronic address data and retrieve from memory previously stored telephone number or electronic address data simultaneously or substantially simultaneously. Yet, as disclosed in P. D. Crary, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,579, which is incorporated herein by reference, dual port memory requires more complex control circuitry, greater power consumption and more gates to implement than a similarly sized single-ported memory.
In solving the above-referenced problem, said costs of dual port memory design must be balanced against the benefits offered by the dual port memory. This invention recognizes said dual port memory benefits to outweigh said costs and thus solves the above-referenced problem through providing in an interactive television or radio system dual port memory means for simultaneous or substantially simultaneous storing in and retrieving from memory telephone number and electronic address data.
Accordingly, the overriding object of the present invention is to equip consumer response devices to be used in an interactive television or radio system with dual port memories.
A related object of the instant invention is to provide dual port memory means in an interactive television or radio system for storing received telephone number or electronic address data and accessing stored telephone number or electronic address data simultaneously or substantially simultaneously.
Additional objects of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description contained herein.